Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Belated Posts!

These are a few things I've been meaning to post forever (the lemon yogurt cake was from February I think!). Anyway, better late than never, right? The first is my No-Knead Bread. I actually made this twice--can't remember exactly but the first time I didn't use enough salt and it tasted horrible! It looked great, though! So here is a pic of my beautiful but horrible tasting bread about five months after the fact!

I did make it again with the right amount of salt and it tasted great but ended up looking sort of like a burn victim for whatever reason. I know we're supposed to document results both good and bad but it was way too ugly to take a picture of!

The next thing I wanted to share was this Portuguese Clam and Chorizo Stew. Again, this was awhile ago and probably isn't tempting summer fare but really good on a winter night...

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put the chorizo in a small saucepan with 1 cup of the stock and simmer until softened, about 15 minutes. Drain the chorizo and discard the broth.

2. Meanwhile, brush the bread with olive oil and toast for about 10 minutes, until golden. Rub the toasts with the peeled whole garlic clove and transfer each slice to a deep soup bowl.

3. In a large enameled cast-iron casserole, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil until shimmering. Add the bacon and cook over moderate heat, stirring, until crisp, 7 to 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to a plate and reserve it for another use. Add the onion and minced garlic to the casserole and cook over low heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the piquillo peppers and their liquid and cook for 1 minute. Add the chorizo and remaining 1/2 cup of stock and bring to a boil. Add the clams, cover and cook over high heat until nearly all have opened, about 10 minutes. Discard any unopened clams. Spoon the stew over the toasts, drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and serve straight away.

Lastly, this is a yummy lemon yogurt cake by Ina Garten. I wonder how it would taste if you substituted olive oil for the vegetable. I keep hearing about different olive oil cakes. This was pretty good just the way it was though!

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.

2. Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it's all incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

3. Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.

4. When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool.

5. For the glaze, combine the confectioners' sugar and lemon juice and pour over the cake.

1 Comments:

Cath, these look great. I think I might make that lemon bread with olive oil to serve with your orange lemon ice cream. Yours looked so delicious I'm tempted to walk to the bakery right now to get some lemon bread. And your clam stew looked really good. Summers in San Francisco are cold so its the perfect weather to try it!